Phoenixville to form beautification committee

PHOENIXVILLE — Borough council voted unanimously to create a new sub-committee devoted to the arts and beautification around town.

The beautification and public arts sub-committee will be placed under the borough’s economic development committee

“My thinking is to have five to seven members on the committee talking about beautification and ways to clean up the borough, identifying some properties that are in need of some cleanup, organizing functions such as a Boy Scouts cleanup,” said Richard Kirkner, borough council president, during the Oct. 9 meeting. “Eventually the thinking is that this could form into such a commission along the lines of the tree advisory commission that is in the ordinance(s) and does have some powers to apply for grants or provide some official stamp or seal of approval.”

“The idea at this point for a groundswell, from the ground-up,” community effort, Kirkner said.

Councilwoman Jennifer Mayo is the chairwoman of the economic development committee, which approved the beautification committee 3-0. She said Dr. Lou Beccaria, the president and CEO of the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation, came to the economic development committee’s meeting and suggested the idea.

“We’d like to have both public and council participation in the committee,” Mayo said, though the exact ratio or numbers that would make up the committee have yet to be decided.

“We will discuss further at the economic development committee how this will function,” Kirkner said. “It’s sort of the first step to having some kind of official beautification, public parks commission in the borough.”

“We definitely would like to have public input and encourage any local artists or (anyone who) have any general knowledge to contact us or give us a call.”